The cost of Windows 8 licenses.Digitimes reports that OEMs have to pay as much as $100 for each, but take that with a grain of salt; they’re a notoriously unreliable source of information. ExtremeTech says that Microsoft is likely charging half that amount or less, but even at $10 – $20 per licence, the other factors would still make it difficult to compete on price.

The cost of iPad production. Apple have had the time to work out their design and production process as well as their supply chains to the point where it costs less to produce an iPad than any of its less beautifully-designed, lower-spec tablet rivals. ExtremeTech notes that this is equally true for the situation with the MacBook Air and non-Apple “ultrabooks”: you get better design and specs and price with Apple.

Let’s suppose that the WinRT tablet manufacturers decide to sell their wares at a razor-thin margin in order to compete on price. Apple could reduce its 100% markup, beat them at the price game and still make a tidy profit.

Even if the WinRT OEMs decided to use the “compete on price” gambit in the hopes that short-term pain will eventually lead to long-term gain, success will hinge on a variable completely out of their control: that the public will want WinRT at least as much as iOS, if not more. That’s a bit of a longshot.